1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the management of digital media content. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for containing and distributing digital media content.
2. Background Art
Films, television programming, entertainment trailers, and the like, are examples of content that lends itself to distribution in the form of digital media files. Typically, such media content is prepared for distribution in three general steps. First, the content may be encoded in any of a number of available encoding formats to address the diversity of distribution platforms and the devices on which the media are to be played back. For example, media content may be encoded in conformity with Windows Media Video (WMV), Moving Picture Experts Group compression standards such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, On2 VP6, and other formats supported by consumer playback devices including cable and satellite set-top boxes, online video via the Internet, and portable playback devices such as mobile handsets and mobile video players. Second, the encoded media may be inserted into, i.e., “wrapped in”, one of many different container formats, for example, QuickTime, Advanced Systems Format (ASF), or MP4. Third, metadata associated with the media typically is produced separately, and is commonly replicated many times over for each distribution platform. In addition, in some cases, other content or applications such as interactive menus, games, and other programs associated with the core media content may be produced by another set of third party contributors.
Because the described packaging process utilizes data and protocols created by independent parties, there may be little or no compatibility between the different elements within a media package. As a result, the wrapping is often a complex and costly process. Producers and distributors of the core media content being distributed in this manner usually must carry a multitude of instantiations of the same core media content to service the myriad device environments in use. For example, in the mobile space alone there are many dozens of instantiations that need to be created simply to address the majority of the mobile telephones in use. Moreover, there are a multitude of different combinations of encoding format/metadata scheme/container format, and in most cases a single such combination targets a single device or a limited subset of devices, thus hindering media interoperability across multiple devices.
As a result, a consumer may be limited in their ability to experience the entire aesthetic impact of the media content, as conceived by its producers, due to constraints on the combination of encoding format, metadata scheme, and container format targeted to their particular playback device. For example, a number of the presently available container formats address specific platform requirements, e.g., QuickTime, MP4, and ASF, but these container formats may lack the flexibility to do complete justice to the richness and diversity of elements that may be relevant to the core media content. In addition, existing container formats are typically unsuitable environments for storage or assembly of more than one version of an item of core media content, such as multiple versions of the same core media content in different encoding formats.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a solution for managing digital media content that provides an integrated and substantially comprehensive storage of the many different content elements relevant to, or associated with a core media content.